the oracle

the third year

December 11, 2006

just pick one already

It's not that I'm ungrateful for the mid-spring-ish weather we had yesterday, it's just that I'm tired of the back-and-forth. Friday was freezing, so cold that even with the thermostat set on 75, the house still felt chilly, whereas yesterday, as I mentioned in my first sentence, felt like mid-spring. It wasn't tank top weather for me just yet (although in years past I would've leapt the opportunity to put on one of my spaghetti-strapped friends), but it was warm enough that I didn't need my jacket for most of the time I was outside, even though I was wearing a t-shirt. The perpetual uncertainty of what season to dress for is annoying, but even higher on my list of reasons why I hate the indecisive weather are the sinus problems that always seem to come with temperature changes. I'm not a fan.

Aside from that, the weekend was pretty good. H and I did lots of crafty things, most of which involved painting wooden ornaments, but she also started on making Christmas cards for her friends too. I gave her the ink pads I'd bought for her to start her own stamping kit, and while we were in A.C. Moore on Saturday I let her pick out a holiday stamp for that too. I also got started on the present wrapping, which is quite a change for me. Normally I wait until the last minute then try to get help from anyone I can sucker into it. My goal for this week is to mail the packages to our nieces and nephews, and once that's accomplished, all I'll have to do is pick up the last few Christmas gifts for friends and family that don't have to be mailed.

Posted by oracle at 7:22 AM | Comments (0)

November 29, 2006

no offense taken

I stopped in to drop some bpal stuff off for Karinne on the way home from work today, and as I was walking back to my car, a guy rolled down his window and asked if he could tell me something without me getting offended. After a quick check to make sure I didn't have my lights on or a flat tire, I said sure, and he proceeded to tell me that I was "absolutely beautiful" and that my boyfriend was a lucky man. I guess my wedding ring isn't visible from 20 feet away.

Posted by oracle at 6:27 PM | Comments (0)

November 28, 2006

just in time for the holidays!

Miss Doxie has a store for her super-awesome wiener dog art and various other goodies! And to make it even better, 10% of all proceeds from the site are donated to Dachshund Rescue of North America.

ETA: I have decided that I can't live without one of her tiny cameos. The wiener dog one, of course.

Posted by oracle at 12:32 PM | Comments (0)

bitter moon is all mine

I got my Bitter Moon shirt yesterday, and I puffy pink heart it. Also, Nintendogs came in handy yesterday morning while I was stuck in traffic; instead of gnashing my teeth while I waited to get through the stop-and-go mess, I fed Jax, gave him water, and took him on a walk.

Posted by oracle at 9:10 AM | Comments (0)

brain exercise and another puppy

Mike gave me an early Christmas present last Tuesday - a black Nintendo DS Lite and a case for it, and he had me pick out two games. I chose Nintendogs (Dachshund and Friends, of course) and Sonic Rush for my two games and ended up getting Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2 and Brain Age myself. I like all the games, but Nintendogs and Brain Age are the two I've been playing the most.

Brain Age is a lot of fun. The sections I've played so far aren't challenging by themselves (basic math, reading out loud, counting syllables), but you're timed on how long it takes you to do them which is what makes it a challenge for me. My current favorite sections are Calculations, which gives you either 20 or 100 various math problems, and High To Low, where you're shown numbers in a random pattern for a second or two then have to remember where the numbers were and click on boxes in the appropriate order.

I love Nintendogs. Mike said all along that it seemed like a game I'd enjoy, but I wasn't sure. I thought it seemed a little gimmicky until I actually played it and realized that it's a lot more fun than I thought it would be. The game lets you have more than one dog at a time, but the only one I have right now is a black and tan dachshund named Jax. The game has you give the dog food and water, take it for walks, and teach it tricks so you can enter it into agility, obedience, or disc catching competitions. You have to pay for the food, water, grooming items, and accessories, and you can earn money by placing in the competitions or by selling things at the secondhand store. As you go on more walks, your dog's stamina increases and it interact with other dogs along the way. Sometimes during the walk your dog will bring you presents, which are usually items for them (Jax has brought me a Mario hat, various colored collars, a rope toy, a bouncy mushroom, sunglasses, and a lion's mane) or various items like a statue, vase, or tissue box, all of which can be sold at the secondhand store.

Posted by oracle at 8:19 AM | Comments (0)

November 27, 2006

Thanksgiving - 2006

We had the kids for Thanksgiving this year, and since we weren't going to my parents' house for a celebration until Saturday, we spent Thanksgiving Day at home doing nothing that didn't involve cooking, eating, or playing video games/on the computer. There was some cleaning up too (particularly mid-way through the Thanksgiving dinner preparations when I realized that I had used every mixing bowl we had and needed clean ones so I could continue preparing the food, not to mention to serve said food in), but that wasn't the main focus of the day. It was nice to be able to relax at home and not have to worry about running around visiting people.

I got up when the dogs started their "it's morning, we have to go OUT" prancing, and after they were through, I started prepping the turkey. There was a moment of near-panic when I realized that the turkey was still a little frozen, even though it'd been defrosting in the fridge since I'd bought it on Sunday, and then another when I couldn't find the giblets. I knew they were supposed to be in the turkey, and hell if I was going to start cooking it until I found those things. Finally, after a couple minutes of staring at the inside of the turkey wondering where the giblets'd gone, I noticed a blob peeking out from under the turkey that hadn't been there when I set the bird down. Further inspection revealed that the giblet bag had come open and was hanging out of the other end of the turkey. Having solved that mystery, I retrieved the rest of the giblets, threw them away, and finished prepping the turkey. I made a phone call to my mom, put the turkey in to start cooking, and then went back to bed, happy in the knowledge that I had a couple of hours before I needed to start on the rest of the food.

Dinner included turkey, ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, peas, corn, olives, cranberry sauce, rolls, cornbread muffins, apple pie, and pumpkin pie. Getting everything together was more time-consuming than I would have liked even though I'd made some things the night before, but since we were able to sit down and eat around 2:30, I was pretty happy with the way things turned out. Afterwards, we spent the rest of the day puttering around the house, occasionally going back for more food or pie as necessary.

Posted by oracle at 6:39 AM | Comments (0)

November 22, 2006

move along

I've mentioned the neighbors being loud before, but this time their music was loud enough that it pissed Mike off too. I woke up at 3am when Mike got out of bed fuming. Whoever was in the room on the other side of the wall as our office was playing their music so loud we could hear it from anywhere in our whole house. After 30 minutes or so of this, I threw on some clothes to take the puppies out and to ask the neighbors to turn it down. Their windows were open, and as soon as I went outside I could hear the All American Rejects blaring from one of the upstairs rooms. When I rang the doorbell, the guy I talked to was very nice, and they did turn the music down, but playing music that loud in the early hours of the morning is seriously inconsiderate.

Posted by oracle at 8:00 AM | Comments (0)

November 19, 2006

Stranger Than Fiction

Mike and I went to see this yesterday, and I really liked it. I've become a Will Ferrell fan anyways, but this was a funny feel-good movie on its own. It reminded me a lot of Bruce Almighty.

Posted by oracle at 8:38 PM | Comments (0)

November 18, 2006

double feature

We've had American Psycho for a while, and yesterday we finally watched it. It's an interesting movie, that's for sure. I'm still trying to figure out of the end was a huge cover-up or if Patrick Bateman just imagined that he did all that stuff. I dunno. I did have to cover my eyes and ears when he killed a dog and then later a kitten, but it wasn't really scary. At several points during the movie I found myself thinking "Holy shit, he's insane," (or some variation on that theme), then I remembered that the movie was called American Psycho for a reason. Oops.

After the movie was over we had a round-robin dinner, but not the "Chic-Fil-A (or La Pizzeria) + cherry coke eaten at Wendy's" version seen frequently during high school. This version involved shrimp and key lime pie from Bonefish Grill + chicken caesar salad and sirloin marsala from Carrabba's. While we were finishing up our food, we watched the remake of The Omen. I liked it better than the original, but there are a couple of things I wish had been done differently, primarily the casting of Julia Stiles as Damien's mother. She was fine in 10 Things I Hate About You, but she was not believable at all as a twenty-or-thirty-something-year-old mother, especially since she was paired with Liev Schrieber, who did such an excellent job as Damien's father. Also, I wish the dog had been consistent throughout the movie. I was happy when we first saw the black German Shepard in the birthday party scene because that was much more fitting than the Rottweiler from the original movie and was then let down when the dog that Mrs. Baylock brought into the house was a Rottweiler. For me the German Shepard was less physically menacing and more ominously so. I really enjoyed the rest of the movie and, aside from the two things mentioned above, think it was a pretty good remake. I particularly liked how the Church did a presentation of how current events fit with the angels from the book of Revelations.

Posted by oracle at 8:54 AM | Comments (0)

November 17, 2006

more nightmare-flavored fun

I had a shitty night last night courtesy of a particularly vivid vampire nightmare. There were slashed throats complete with detailed gaping wounds and gushing blood, changed personalities which made it hard to know who was safe to talk to or trust, and the feelings of danger and being pursued that seem to be prevalent in most, if not all, of my nightmares. When I woke up I was terrified, but thanks to the changed personalities part of the dream, I wasn't sure if it was safe to snuggle up to Mike. I need a fucking nap.

Posted by oracle at 9:07 AM | Comments (2)

November 14, 2006

my first cancer check

That sounds so dramatic but it was just a visit to my dermatologist for my first routine check-up. This visit was prompted by a cyst on my back, but aside from some sun spots (thank you, sunburns), a little patch of dry skin (thank you, intermittent winter weather), and some genetically inherited little red spots (thank you, Mom), that was all that was noteworthy on my skin.

Posted by oracle at 6:25 PM | Comments (0)

late weekend recap

Highlights from this weekend include going to Chuck E. Cheese with a friend and his kids and having a family night watching some Third Rock episodes and playing games (Scattergories). The downside was that Sunday was cold, miserable, and rainy, and the library was closed when N and I went to get some books.

Posted by oracle at 8:07 AM | Comments (0)

November 12, 2006

land of the dead

The nightmare I had this weekend was about zombies, and it was very graphic and detailed. I can still clearly remember the bloody meat from the bodies and the way the dead flesh looked. Yick.

Posted by oracle at 9:14 PM | Comments (0)

November 7, 2006

Election Day - 2006

Mike and I went to vote for the first time in our new area today, and while I was able to vote without problems, once again there Mike's voter resignation hadn't gotten updated, so we had to go back to our old polling place for him to vote. (He could've voted with a provisional ballot, but the lady we spoke with told us that more often than not, those don't even get counted.)

I've voted every year since Mike and I have been together, and it's a good feeling. Every year I tell myself I'm not going to wait until the last minute to read up on the issues and the candidates, and every year, I put it off till the last minute. I need to stop with the apathy already. The one issue I did know about well in advance this year was the proposed marriage amendment. I understand that gay marriage is a hot topic for a lot of people, but I just don't see it as the erosion of religion or traditional marriage that some view it as. Hopefully the majority of the people who vote today don't vote for this stupid amendment either.

Posted by oracle at 1:12 PM | Comments (0)

November 6, 2006

a new trading post goodie

I heart this shirt. That is all.

Posted by oracle at 9:53 AM | Comments (0)

November 4, 2006

slow day

Since last night was such a late one, Mike and I spent most of today sleeping with occasional interruptions to take the puppies out, get online, or get some food. One of my online ventures was to look at some BPAL stuff, and while I was browsing through the LE scents, Mike commented on my interest and asked to smell the imps Karinne gave me. We sniffed our way through all of them, although I think his nose wasn't the same for quite a while afterwards.

We showered and went out for some dinner around 7. The original plan was just to pick food up to go from Bonefish, but a couple of frustrating phone calls changed that to going in for a sit-down meal. The first two restaurants we tried were packed with a minimum wait time of an hour, so we ended up at another restaurant in the area. As far as I'm concerned, the experience there was mediocre, at best. To begin with, we had to wait for some menus to free up - there were plenty of seats, but not enough menus to go around, I guess. When we could sit down and look at a menu, our waitress was too distracted to remember things the first time we asked for them - Mike asked for ranch dressing, but by the time she came back out, not bringing ranch, he was already almost through with the wings. And to top it off, my food had to be sent back twice because my "medium-well" steak came out first medium-rare, then medium. Ick. Mike was already through with his food by the time mine came back cooked the way I'd requested, so we just got what was left of my dinner in a box to go. On our way home we stopped by the first restaurant we'd tried to go to and picked up some shrimp (for Mike) and a piece of key lime pie (for me, of course) to take home with us.

Now we've settled in with our food and the puppies, and we're getting ready to watch The Warriors. Mike picked up the movie shortly after the game was released, so we've had it for a while, but tonight's the first time I've felt like watching it. Even if I don't like it, I'll understand Mike's references.

Posted by oracle at 9:09 PM | Comments (0)

November 1, 2006

Halloween - 2006

We picked N and H up after school, and when it started getting dark, we got ready to go trick-or-treating. H wanted to be a scary bride, but we didn't have any face paint since Mike and I hadn't known about that until the last minute, so we had to improvise. I put a couple layers of baby powder on her face to make it pale, then used several layers of brown eyeshadow to create dark circles around her eyes. I put some gray eyeshadow on top of that to make the circles even darker and gave her a couple coats of mascara to add emphasis. I finished up with red lipstick, putting a super dark coat on her lips and dotting it lightly from the corners of her mouth down to her chin to give the illusion of dripping blood. She was pleased with how it all turned out, and after a couple of pictures, we headed out into the neighborhood. The weather was perfect. It was right in between being warm and cool so we were very comfortable as we walked to the house. We only had about half an hour to trick-or-treat because the kids' mom wanted H back in time to take her to an event at church, but even with the limited amount of time, we still went to enough houses that H got plenty of candy. Her pumpkin bucket was so full that she was having a hard time carrying by the time we stopped at the last house for the night.

After we dropped H and N off, we went to Karinne's house for a Halloween party. This was the first time I'd seen their new house, and from what I could see with the black light, it's beautiful. I also got to see her ferrets and new puppy and am a little bit in love, although I don't forsee adding ferrets to our household any time in the near future. We stayed there for a couple of hours and hung out with Karinne, her husband, and his family. Right as we were leaving, a large group of her husband's co-workers got there. I have anti-social tendencies, so as far as I'm concerned, that was perfect timing. Mike and I had a great time at the party, and it was nice to be able to spend time with Karinne just hanging out again. On the way home Mike commented that watching the two of us interact was like seeing me in my natural element, and he's right. I've been friends with Karinne since I was in 9th grade almost twelve years ago, and after being friends for that long, there's a familiarity that's unmistakeable. I talk with my mouth full around her without worrying about what she'll think of that. I know that she'll not just listen to my nerd stories, but will understand them because we have similar interests and personalities. Her responses will be as sarcastic as mine, if not more so, and we won't have to worry about making sure the other knew how the comments were intended. It's nice to be able to stop focusing on various things and just be myself.

Posted by oracle at 9:17 AM | Comments (0)

PSA #8

If you want to back out of your driveway but put your vehicle in Drive instead of Reverse, you will go towards the garage door instead of away from it like you had in mind.

Posted by oracle at 6:47 AM | Comments (1)

October 31, 2006

decant update

I'm getting Black Ice, Knecht Ruprecht, and Lick It Again too!

Posted by oracle at 4:54 PM | Comments (0)

PSA #7

When you're used to using both Macs and PCs, it's important to remember which one you're on at any given time. Even though the Alt key on a PC keyboard is in the same spot the Command key is on a Mac keyboard, it does not do the same thing when you're trying to use shortcuts.

Posted by oracle at 8:39 AM | Comments (0)

October 30, 2006

Jamie Lee Curtis

We went to a haunted house with Maddy and D last night and had a fantastic time. It was actually a haunted woods walk and two haunted houses, and the people who set it up did an excellent job. As we were standing in line to get into the first haunted house I saw people running out screaming, and all I could think was "How hard is it to just stay calm long enough to walk out of there?" Ha. When we went through I was absolutely terrified by the time we got to the exit, and when I heard a guy start up a chainsaw right in front of us, it took everything I had not to run out every bit as fast, if not faster, than the people I'd been laughing at earlier.

We went through the second haunted house right after finishing the first one, and it was much, much scarier than the first. While we were somewhere inside, I freaked out when a voice right next to my ear asked "Where are you going?" I screamed (I was informed later that I have a Jamie Lee Curtis-esque scream) and scurried forward, only to be scared again less than a minute later when the same guy asked "Did I scare you?" in the same creepy voice right next to my ear again. All I was capable of at that point was squeaking "Yes" and clutching tightly to Mike's arm. I was petrified by the time we got out of that house so we took a little break to get some cider, have our picture taken, and give my nerves a chance to recover before we went through the haunted woods. There was a guy roaming around with an air-puffer, walking up behind unsuspecting people and puffing a gust of air into their hair, and he got me three times as we were waiting in the various lines throughout the evening. After he startled me the third time I kept checking behind me every few minutes to make sure he wasn't there.

The line to get on the hayride that would take us out to the woods wasn't too long, but once we got out there, the line to actually get into the woods was long and slow-moving. We were the last ones in line, and it took an hour for us to get up to the entrance. The temperature had dropped quite a bit so it was a very cold wait, but there were a couple of fires along the way up the line which were nice to stand by until the wind started blowing the smoke in our eyes. During our wait we saw and talked about the two cop cars parked in the field near the line (one of which pulled away before we went into the woods), the pot we smelled drifting towards us, the two agitated rottweilers in a truck that pulled up when we were close to the entrance, and the crazy lady who tried to get us all to dance with her.

I went through the haunted woods for the most part with my eyes closed, holding on to Mike and using him like a shield. We were supposed to crawl through some areas, but I opted to duck walk instead because there was no way I was going to go through an area with both my head and feet vulnerable. After we made it to the end, we waited by another fire for the last truck to come and take us back to the main area. The people by that fire seemed to have been drinking quite a bit more than the ones by the entrance and were pouring diesel on the fire, coming dangerously close to burning their faces off in the process. The hay ride back was quite bumpy, but we made it without any incidents, and Mike let me sit on his lap so I wouldn't completely freeze, although I'm sure he regretted that decision every time we hit a bump.

We didn't get home until after midnight, but it was well worth staying up late, and in spite of being so scared I was worried I would pee myself, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. We're definitely going to make this a Halloween tradition.

Posted by oracle at 11:43 AM | Comments (0)

October 27, 2006

decants

Squeak! I'm participating in my first decant circle! I'm going to be getting Yule and Herr Drosselmeyer from the Yuletide 2006 scents. There are more that I'd like, but this is a good start.

Posted by oracle at 11:23 AM | Comments (0)

October 25, 2006

shared brainwaves

I just called Mike a few minutes ago, and apparently my call came through right as he was picking up the phone to call me. Talk about timing.

Posted by oracle at 12:34 PM | Comments (0)

apple pie - take one

The apple pie turned out pretty good overall, but I don't think I'm going to use the same recipe next time; I have an apple dumpling recipe from a family friend that I'm going to try to find and use instead. Mike really liked the crust, but that was pre-made so I can't take any credit for that. The main thing I didn't like about the recipe I used was the lemon juice. It made the apples too tart, even with the sugar and spice and stuff.

Posted by oracle at 8:41 AM | Comments (1)

potential juror

Yesterday's mail brought me a potential juror questionnaire from the US District Court, and if I'm selected I'll serve from November 2006 through December 2007. That'd be an interesting way to get out of holiday activities.

Posted by oracle at 6:49 AM | Comments (2)

October 24, 2006

pizza - the first attempt

It wasn't a complete disaster, but it wasn't as easy as I thought it was going to be either. I don't know if it was because of the boxed mix or if I'm just not used to using the bread machine yet, but making the crust was way more difficult than it sounded. An SOS call to my sister and her "master chef" husband left me with a floury but good-tasting crust, and the sauce tasted great on the pizza, so, all things considered, I think it was a pretty good first attempt. There are a couple other things I'm going to tweak next time, aside from the crust, to include the sauce. When I make red sauce there are always a some chunks of Romano that don't quite melt all the way, and while those taste great in spaghetti or lasagna or stuffed shells, they're not so great in pizza - especially cold pizza. For the next batch (amazingly enough, I'm almost through with the vat I made the other day) I'm going see how the Romano melts when cut into even smaller pieces, although I think it might be easier to just to grate it.

While I was waiting for the bread machine to work its magic on the dough I started prepping things for the apple pie, with a couple of interruptions as I took breaks to work on the pizza and to monitor the shells I was boiling. It was close to 9 when I was done with all of that, and since I didn't want to stay up till 10 babysitting a pie, Mike suggested that I just put everything in the fridge and bake it when I get home today. The end result is a container of shells to be stuffed, a crust that needs to be put in a pie pan, and a large bowl full of apples to mix with spices and fill said crust all waiting for me to get home.

Posted by oracle at 7:29 AM | Comments (0)

October 23, 2006

one out of four

I didn't ever get around to the roast, vegetable soup, or chocolate chip cookies, but I did finally make the pumpkin pie. We had N Friday night because he asked if he could stay with us since his mom was having a birthday party for Z. Saturday was spent hanging out at the house until it was time to take N back to his mom's. While we were there, Mike and I walked to the park with H and played for a bit before we had to leave to pick up my car. We stopped by to drop off some pie for my mom, then went back home until it was time to leave to go to a Halloween party. Sunday was spent sleeping, reading, watching movies (Frankenstein and Dracula) and tv shows (Perry Mason), interrupted only by a brief Burger King run. In short, it was a great weekend.

Posted by oracle at 7:00 AM | Comments (0)

October 20, 2006

I'm turning into what I'm not

This day feels long but it's really gone by quickly. I've listened to a lot of my old friends on my iPod, and the battery is edging towards red sooner than I'd like. I was planning on working a little late today, but plans have shifted, as they've had a tendency to do this week, so I'm leaving in just over an hour and a half. I have more than enough work to keep legitimately busy between now and then, and when you throw in some online slacking, I'm sure that time will go by just as quickly as the first 7 hours did.

Posted by oracle at 12:53 PM | Comments (0)

and furthermore

The random weather changes can kiss my ass. I love love love my tank tops and sandals, but I am tired of dressing for the cold weather I feel when I let the dogs out in the morning only to find out that it's 80-something degrees and I will be melting on the way home. Those kind of days do not have a place in fall in my world. I would like either consistently warm or cool days so I know how to proceed without rabidly checking weather dot com every 15 minutes.

Posted by oracle at 9:12 AM | Comments (0)

also

A roast, vegetable soup, apple pie, and chocolate chip cookies have joined pumpkin pie on my list of things to cook/bake this weekend. I'm ready for some comfort foods.

Posted by oracle at 7:39 AM | Comments (0)

at least it wasn't operator error

On my way home from work yesterday the clutch in my car started slipping really badly. By the time I got off the highway I was barely creeping along. I made it into a gas station parking lot, no thanks to the asshole behind me who apparently doesn't realize that hazard lights mean that something's wrong, and promptly called my mother to come pick me up since she was less than a mile away from me. (Even if she'd already left the area, my sister was less than two miles away, so I had a fairly good backup plan. I'm lucky my car decided to have a hissyfit on a day that they were both in the immediate area and could rescue my sorry ass.) After checking with the guy working at the gas station to make sure they wouldn't do anything crazy with my car if I left it there, my mom drove me home where my sister met us so she could show my mom her purchases. Nothing like a little car trouble to justify an unplanned get-together. I'm unspeakably happy I didn't a) have to push my evil car across a turn lane into the gas station parking lot and b) walk home. The guy who put in the shiny new clutch met me at the gas station on his way home from work to see if it was a clutch or transmission problem or if I should just have it towed to my mechanic. He decided that it was indeed a clutch issue and that my car was in good enough shape for him to drive back to his house to take a look at. We made it without any incidents, but as I was driving him back to his car he told me that towards the end he wasn't sure if my car was going to make it all the way there. Turns out the problems seems to be an adjustment issue, so I won't need another shiny new clutch, nor will I be stuck driving the van for the next two weeks.

All of this means that I still haven't made the grocery store trip I've been planning to make all week, which means I still don't have condensed milk so I still haven't been able to make the pumpkin pies I've been wanting to make since last weekend. If I don't get there today after work, I'm going to hire someone to take care of this for me so I can have some damn pie tonight. I think I deserve it by now.

Posted by oracle at 6:18 AM | Comments (0)

October 19, 2006

change of plans

My plan to hit up the grocery store yesterday after the school meeting didn't go quite as I thought it would. As in, it didn't happen at all. Mike had originally planned to work late, but he brought some work home with him so we could both go to the school meeting with the kids' mom. After the meeting we went straight home, and I could've gone back out to the store but didn't since my sister was coming over later to upload some pictures from her recent trip to Europe. (She went to Germany, France, and Rome. Yes, I am insanely jealous.) Instead I spent some time with Mike and started on a vat of red sauce so I can make my first attempt at homemade pizza this weekend. I'm cheating and using a boxed mix for crust the first time so I can get an idea of how it's supposed to be before I start trying to make my own.

Posted by oracle at 1:20 PM | Comments (0)

October 17, 2006

keys, knights, and nightmares

Skeleton Key was on HBO Sunday night, and that's one I've wanted to see since it first came out, even though I knew next to nothing about it. Mike flipped past it early on in the movie and humored me when I asked if he'd leave it there. That is not a movie I should watch before bedtime, let me just say that. I liked the plot, I liked the twist (it may have been obvious to you, but it was definitely a twist for me) near the end, I liked the hoodoo involvement, but sweet, weeping Moses, I spent a good chunk of the night trying to get the image of the ghosts in the mirror out of my head. I think that part got to me more than the rest of the movie, although after seeing the ending, it was neat to go back and put all the pieces/clues together. I'd like to see it again now that I know what's going on so I can watch it all unfold from that perspective, but that's not going to happen anytime soon. (When I finally did fall asleep, I had a nightmare. All I can remember from it is peeking through my eyelashes to see if it was safe, only to see someone's eye so close to mine that all I could see was the light reflecting off the black iris. Creepy.)

After watching the movie I was so freaked out I needed something to take my mind off the hoodoo so I picked up The Templar Legacy, one of the books I got from the library on Saturday. I finished it Monday afternoon and really enjoyed it. I'm pondering starting a book blog, so that's all I'll write about the story for now.

Posted by oracle at 11:55 AM | Comments (0)

October 16, 2006

pumpkin pie

The weather is getting more consistently colder, and it's finally time for pumpkin pie. I picked up a couple cans of pumpkin over the weekend but didn't get any condensed milk. I'll have to do that this week so I can have my pie. I'm working late tomorrow and Thursday, since I'm leaving early Wednesday to go to a school meeting, I'll just hit the grocery store up then.

Posted by oracle at 8:13 AM | Comments (0)

earring found

I found my earring on the stairs this weekend. I never would've thought to search the stairs, so I'm lucky it didn't get vacuumed.

Posted by oracle at 7:37 AM | Comments (0)

October 11, 2006

interim rx update

My doctor's office finally called in my interim prescription, and I was able to pick that up Monday when I got my antibiotics and cough medicine. I'm now two days into it, and my allergies are at bay. Next up: getting off my ass about that prior approval thing.

Posted by oracle at 7:32 AM | Comments (0)

shiny new clutch

My car's back, and I can shift again. Yay! I'm glad we have the van so we don't have to deal with renting/borrowing a car when the truck or my car need to be worked on, but I was really getting tired of driving the van every day. I'm getting used to my little car (and being so much closer to the ground) again, but I'm happy to have my car back. I'm even happier now that I don't have to fight to get it in gear.

Posted by oracle at 6:44 AM | Comments (0)

October 10, 2006

missing earring

Yesterday morning I noticed that one of my hoop earrings was missing. I was a little upset at the time but didn't think too much of it, assuming that it had fallen out while I slept and I'd find it when I rummaged through the pillows and sheets. No such luck. My earring is still AWOL, and if I can't find it soon, I'm going to have to buy a new one. Damn it.

Posted by oracle at 9:06 PM | Comments (0)

Morrocan death flu

Apparently, my misery over the past week has been because of an ear infection, which may very well be the first one I've ever had. A couple prescriptions later, I'm feeling much better.

The weekend was good, overall. Mike and I were both feeling pretty crummy so we slept most of Saturday away. We did keep our movie date though, and watched the Changeling, which I thought was very creepy.

Sunday we were planning to go to a wine festival, but neither of us slept well Saturday night and we were both feeling bad still, so we ended up skipping that. We got the kids in the afternoon, and then stayed home for the rest of the day.

Monday was spent getting people to school, getting me to the doctor, and going to the grocery store and pharmacy. H came home from school with a headache and ended up going to bed before I even got home from my pharmacy/grocery store run. After dinner, Z helped me build up my blue and white Magic deck, while N gave us some input, and N's going to be helping me create a new one (red, black, or green) this weekend.

Monday night:
Z: What time is it, Kate?
me: It's a little after 9:30.
Z: Nooooooo, it's peanut butter and jelly time.

Posted by oracle at 6:45 AM | Comments (0)

October 4, 2006

not quite there yet

but if my doctor's office doesn't come through with my interim prescription, this very well may be me by Monday:

"Please don't cross my path. You will be cranked at." - Jen

Posted by oracle at 9:13 PM | Comments (0)

green tea chai

Today has been a mixed bag. The good: my face no longer feels like a blowfish; my coat arrived; I got the necessary load of laundry taken care of (well, all except the folding and putting away part, so I guess I only got it halfway taken care of); I picked up some yummy green tea chai which is soothing my throat as I type this; my allergy prescription is ready for me to pick it up and mail in (although I still have to get that pesky prior authorization thing taken care of); I discovered Godiva Belgian Blends dark chocolate mocha which is like liquid dark chocolate - so good; I picked up tickets for us to go to a wine festival this weekend; and tomorrow is a kidlet day. The bad: I forgot my water bottle at work; the reason my face no longer feels like a blowfish is because my sinuses are draining like constantly; my throat is raw thanks to the non-stop drainage (which is also causing me to cough and/or clear my throat every three minutes or so which has GOT to be annoying); I didn't find out that the one store in my area that is supposed to carry Yogi tea does not, in fact, carry it until I made a special trip there to pick some up for my miserable throat; and my doctor's office did not call in a 30-day prescription for my allergy meds to my local pharmacy, which means that I have to call them tomorrow and beg them to do this, because the thought of going through the next two weeks like this is not a pleasant one.

Posted by oracle at 8:51 PM | Comments (0)

October 3, 2006

mi. ser. y.

See also: sinuses. I'm achy and whiny, stuffy and puffy (thankfully not literally - my sinuses just feel like they're puffed up like a blowfish), drippy and sniffly, and generally all-around miserable. Sitting up is uncomfortable because my neck and back ache so badly, I would love a couple of extra pairs of hands so I could keep pressure on the bridge of my nose and still type at the same time, and I know that if I could just pop my ears and get rid of some of that awful pressure, I'd feel much better. And the worst part is, it's my own damn fault. My doctor gave me a sample of a new allergy medicine that works wonderfully for me, and for the past week or so I've been dragging my heels about calling and asking for a refill. Why? No good reason. I have to ask them to call a 30-day supply into a local pharmacy, then ask to get a written prescription for the rest of the year so I can send that in to the mail order pharmacy I use. I also have to get them to fill out a prior-authorization form so I can get three-months worth of allergy meds at a time (which, by the way, makes absolutely no sense to me, but that's a rant for another day), and it would be much easier if they'd just call in and give a verbal prior-authorization. So, because I will have to spend more than 5 minutes on the phone with someone from the doctor's office, I've been putting this off until I can't stand it any more. Not my most intelligent decision ever.

PS: the itchy ears can go to hell.

Posted by oracle at 11:30 AM | Comments (0)

hurry up, UPS

My coat shipped! And my gloves! (After much pondering, I decided to go ahead and buy a pair of the softest-fleece-ever gloves.)

Posted by oracle at 7:45 AM | Comments (0)

goodbye midnight cowboy

I love Urban Decay's Midnight Cowboy Rides Again. Love it. But the glitter in it does not love my eyes, and I do not love rubbing them constantly. This makes me very sad, because I love it and Urban Decay in general. I guess I'll drown my sorrow in a pot of Gash.

Also, coffee belongs in the travel mug, not puddled on the counter and waterfalling onto the floor. Mopping up coffee is not my idea of a good way to spend part of my morning.

Posted by oracle at 7:10 AM | Comments (0)

September 28, 2006

Lands End love

I got my swatches in the mail today, and I'm going to go with the red one. Also, they have the softest fleece ever. I may end up getting gloves from them too, but that's not etched in stone.

In other news, it is pouring outside which leaves me with no motivation to do anything but curl up in bed and read, or maybe game. I heart Zelda.

Posted by oracle at 7:27 PM | Comments (0)

Fyrinnae - chocolatl and strawberry shortcake

I tried chocolatl yesterday with mixed results. I loved the way it smelled when I first put it on, and some of the dry stages were yummy too. Unfortunately, the "new carpet" Karinne mentioned made an apperance in between the yummy stages. I'll give it another try to see if I get more consistant results; if not, I'll have to try to find something similar 'cause I really like the initial scent.

I'm trying strawberry shortcake today, and it's been great so far - there hasn't been much change since I first put it on, which makes me happy.

Posted by oracle at 8:23 AM | Comments (0)

PSA #6

6.a - Fluoride is much more effective when it's not poured down your chest.

6.b - Mousse on the floor doesn't do a damn thing to add volume to your hair, so make sure the bottle is aimed properly before you spray.

6.c - Cleaning your bathroom floor twice in 10 minutes is not an efficient way to spend your time getting ready for work.

Posted by oracle at 6:44 AM | Comments (0)

September 25, 2006

maybe I could dry the clothes on my melting clutch

Bah. I need a new clutch in my car, and the dryer quit working. So now I have to drive the van in wet jeans. The earth is doomed.

Posted by oracle at 7:55 PM | Comments (0)

early morning horking

I stayed up way too late Saturday night playing Zelda (I'll write about my new-found addiction to Link to the Past at some point) and felt like I had barely closed my eyes when I woke up around 4ish to the sound of a dog licking. It sounded deafening because she was right near my ear, and I gritted my teeth through a minute or so of it until the licking stopped and the horking started. Turns out I'm capable of grabbing a dog, cupping my hand under her mouth, staggering to the bathroom, and holding her over a sink - all before she manages to barf. What a talent to have.

Posted by oracle at 9:45 AM | Comments (0)

September 23, 2006

Martian death flu

Mike got it first. He was miserable yesterday morning, and at one point we thought an ER trip was going to be necessary. That turned out not to be the case, thankfully, but he's still pretty miserable, and I'm not too far behind him at this point. We went in to his client's office for a couple hours today then stopped by Whole Foods and the Apple store on the way home, but that's been it for the day. Good thing the puppies are champion snugglers 'cause most of my day has been spent in bed.

Posted by oracle at 9:53 PM | Comments (0)

September 22, 2006

party favors and online shopping love

I've been planning to buy a good winter coat for the past three years, and since I'm tired of being cold, I'm actually going to do it this year. I narrowed down my choices to a couple from LL Bean and Land's End and pondered my options for the past couple of days. I finally decided which coat I wanted yesterday, but then I had to figure out which color I wanted. This decision has been made a little bit easier by Land's End's genius - they will send you free color swatches for some of their stuff. I love that. I also love that they have coats for dogs too. After I buy mine, I'll be getting one for each of the puppykins too.

I'm also loving the fact that I picked up some of the party favors for H's birthday party next year:

Posted by oracle at 7:59 PM | Comments (0)

September 21, 2006

mac dot com

Mike bought me a dot mac account, and I heart it more than I can say. Just the various email features are enough to make me puppy wriggle.

Posted by oracle at 12:14 PM | Comments (0)

September 20, 2006

lots of sleep

My plan was to go to bed at 8 last night since I was dragging so badly yesterday, but after eating dinner*, puttering around the kitchen, and making some progress on Zelda, I could barely keep my eyes open and ended up crashing a little before 7. I woke up around 2:30 because the puppykins were fidgeting and got up long enough to put them in the kennel, then went right back to sleep until the alarm went off at 3:30. I still felt tired when I got up, but it was nothing like I was feeling yesterday.

* Mike had some leftover taquitos, and my dinner was a chunk of sourdough bread and some Havarti cheese. Mmmm.

Posted by oracle at 6:38 AM | Comments (0)

September 19, 2006

it should be raining

Bedtime last night ended up being much later than my originally planned 8:30, and I'm well on my way to becoming a zombie. I wish it were raining outside - a dark, drizzly day would suit my mood much better than this sunny stuff.

ETA: One of my co-workers just informed me that it's started raining now. Yay!

ETA (again): Damn it. It's stopped and the sun is back out. I need a nap.

Posted by oracle at 8:19 AM | Comments (0)

September 18, 2006

crispy, crunchy

My latest batch of taquitos was even better than the last ones. I mentioned to my sister-in-law over the weekend that I'd used the taquito recipe she gave me, and she gave me some suggestions on how to do them a little better. I tried her suggestions when I made them today, and they really made a difference in the finished product.

Posted by oracle at 8:37 PM | Comments (0)

cold fusion

Last night's nightmare featured painting, acne medicine spreading across the carpet, a discussion about which Superman movie was the best, rockets, and cold fusion.

Posted by oracle at 6:56 AM | Comments (0)

September 14, 2006

the pizza quest begins

I stopped to get groceries on the way home and while I was in the checkout line I saw a special edition of Cooking Light with an article on making pizza. Sounds like as good a starting point as any.

Posted by oracle at 8:46 PM | Comments (0)

rainy day

It is pouring outside, and I have no motivation to do anything, much less get out of bed and go to work. (his is partly because of the sound of rain always makes me sleepy, and partly because I had another nightmare and didn't sleep well. (I woke up several times during the night with the sheets and pillows twisted into a nest around me.) It's perfect "stay home, snuggle with the puppies in bed and read" weather.

Posted by oracle at 4:11 AM | Comments (0)

September 13, 2006

trash can mystery

Today was trash day, and when I got home, someone had brought our trash can up and left it in front of our garage door. I'm certainly not complaining, but I am more than a little curious as to who would do something nice like that.

Posted by oracle at 4:06 PM | Comments (0)

fall

I love the weather we've been having lately. It's not cold yet, but you can tell that it's not too far away. There's a nip in the air when I take the puppykins out in the mornings, when I leave work it's still a bit cool, and the evenings are chilly and crisp. I love it. I told Karinne earlier that I do a little dance inside every time I walk outside, but after thinking about it, it's more like a puppy wriggle. This weather makes me think of apples and spices, pumpkin pies, hot chocolate, the smell of hay and burning leaves, glowing pumpkins, scarecrows, falling leaves, flannel, comfortable sweaters, Thanksgiving, full moons, and stew. I love it.

Posted by oracle at 2:29 PM | Comments (0)

September 11, 2006

whine, blah, whine

Once again, I'm starting the day off tired. It was a hot, restless night, I was uber-jittery from reading the Black Dahlia Avenger, and the neighbors were loudloudloud so I didn't get much sleep.

Posted by oracle at 5:05 AM | Comments (0)

September 9, 2006

skunked

Someone either hit a skunk or scared one nearby because it reeks outside. Yick.

Posted by oracle at 9:43 PM | Comments (0)

PSA #5

When you're trying to check your email in Outlook, clicking "Send/Receive" is much more effective than clicking "Reply to All."

Posted by oracle at 9:15 PM | Comments (0)

September 8, 2006

trading post goodies

Window shopping is killing me. I want this, and these, and the lunacy one of these. I also want this, and this. I know, I know, they're not part of the current update, but I started my spending hiatus before I saw them, so they had to be wish-listed. Bah.

Posted by oracle at 11:29 AM | Comments (0)

zombie

I'm still nightmare-free, but I don't feel like I slept at all last night. I vaguely remember Mike coming to bed, and then after that I woke up several times during the night. It's a good thing today's Friday.

Posted by oracle at 7:16 AM | Comments (0)

September 7, 2006

ooooh

I want one of these! (As seen on Minstry of Tech and Coolest Gadgets)

Posted by oracle at 3:42 PM | Comments (0)

itchy-scratchy

My arms and legs have been itching since this morning, and now my ears are joining the party. This is driving me crazy.

Posted by oracle at 1:25 PM | Comments (0)

dreamweaver

Last night was nightmare-free. I'm hoping that tonight is too.

Posted by oracle at 6:45 AM | Comments (0)

September 6, 2006

my dreams become nightmares

I've been having at least one nightmare a night since Saturday, and last night was no exception. The one from Sunday left me absolutely terrified (Mike said that he knew I'd had a bad dream because I clutched on to him for the rest of that night), but the rest of them haven't been too bad. I've only been able to remember vague details (one had a ghost in it, another a vampire) about them for more than a few minutes after waking up, and even before those few minutes were up I couldn't verbalize what I remembered. I think the only reason I remembered the one from last night is because it was a re-run, although if I hadn't had it again, I wouldn't have remembered having it the first time. Even though I remember most of it, it's hard to verbalize too because most of what made it a nightmare was the overwhelming feeling of apprehension, the knowledge that at any minute, She was going to get home and Something Bad would happen. Who was going to get home? I dunno. What was going to happen? Couldn't tell you. But I was terrified in the dream, and some of that carried over when I woke up, although not so much that I leeched onto Mike again.

Posted by oracle at 4:33 PM | Comments (0)

life skills and a table for two

H gave Mike and me a test this weekend that consisted of approximately 10 spelling words (love, like, etc.) each, and for each word we got right, we each got one "Life Skill" - a folded piece of paper. After we finished our test, she had us open up our Life Skills, starting with Mike. She fidgeted while we opened them up and looked at the pictures, and then, unable to wait any longer, she pointed to one of the pictures and said "That's a table for two. You know, like a date!"

Posted by oracle at 12:11 PM | Comments (0)

September 1, 2006

nothing works here

The water is back, but barely. The water pumps are on a generator so our water pressure is minimal. This would have been a nice day to stay home and read.

Update (11:15): The water pressure is still sucking, and this is apparently a safety hazard because the sprinkler system can't function. The estimated time for repair is 4-5 hours, but they're still trying to decide whether or not to let us leave.

Final update (11:44): We get to leave due to sanitary and safety issues. I get a three-and-a-half day weekend!

Posted by oracle at 10:51 AM | Comments (0)

is this irony?

It's been raining since yesterday afternoon, so there's a ton of water outside, but none in our building. The water has been out at work since 8:15, and security just made the announcement that since there's no water, no one's allowed to use the restrooms. The entire area around my building has no water, so it's going to be a long day if they don't let us go home.

Posted by oracle at 8:55 AM | Comments (0)

another one about the neighbors

So the neighbors had a party last night. How do I know this? Because they woke me up, again. I don't like being the cranky neighbor that's all "Turn that shit down, people are trying to sleep," but I also don't like waking up at 12:19. There has got to be some happy medium here.

Posted by oracle at 6:13 AM | Comments (0)

August 31, 2006

PSA #4

Remember to put house phone on the charger before you leave the house instead of walking out the door with it still clipped to your waistband. Any time you may save by not making a separate trip back upstairs for the phone will be wasted by the trip you have to make back inside just to put the damn phone away.

Posted by oracle at 7:20 AM | Comments (0)

enough bass already

Once again, I woke up exhausted, and once again, I have our neighbors to thank for this. 10 pm is not the time to play your music loud with the bass up. I feel so old saying that, but c'mon, people. Have a little consideration.

Posted by oracle at 4:35 AM | Comments (0)

August 30, 2006

more tea

I tried Yogi Tea's Black Chai, and like the green tea, it was okay, but not as good as the Indian Classic Spice.

Posted by oracle at 1:38 PM | Comments (0)

paring down

I'm going to borrow the friendship quotes Mike found a while back:

Samuel Johnson: There can be no friendship without confidence, and no confidence without integrity.

Robert Louis Stevenson: We are all travelers in the wilderness of the world, and the best that we can find in our travels is an honest friend.

Martin Luther King, Jr.: In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.

Margaret Guenther: [W]e all need friends with whom we can speak of our deepest concerns, and who do not fear to speak the truth in love to us.

Henry David Thoreau: True friendship can afford true knowledge. It does not depend on darkness and ignorance.

Alice Walker: No person is your friend who demands your silence, or denies your right to grow.

Everything that's happened this month has left me re-evaluating things. I take on a lot of things, sometimes stretching myself too thin, so I'm trying to choose what I put effort into, and I'm tired of putting effort relationships that aren't productive. If someone isn't going to be honest, then there's no point in being friends with them. Why put effort into a friendship with someone I don't trust? If someone isn't going to have time for me, again, I feel there's no point in maintaining the friendship. Yeah, people get busy and things come up - I get that. I'm not perfect, nor do I expect my friends to be. I do, however, expect them to be honest and interested in our friendship. I do not have time for superficial friends. If I'm going to invest time in a friendship, it's going to be a meaningful one.

Posted by oracle at 6:38 AM | Comments (0)

concrete jungle

I heard some BLS on Squizz this morning. I'd never heard of them before I met Mike, but they're slowly becoming one of my favorite bands. Maybe it's because I've been wearing my BLS shirt so much lately.

Posted by oracle at 6:22 AM | Comments (0)

another slow one

And once again, I'm dragging. Last night wasn't as late as the night before, but I still don't feel like I got enough sleep. It was a great night though. Mike and I played the multi-player mode on Guitar Hero after we got home from work and as usual, he kicked my ass. I'm getting better though. He took a break after a while, but I played until it was time to leave for wing night. We met some people, had some wings (or a wrap, in my case), and afterwards, Tyler and Amy came over to play Guitar Hero, which was a blast. After they went home, Mike and I got ready for bed and worked on a crossword before going to sleep.

Posted by oracle at 4:23 AM | Comments (0)

August 29, 2006

yogi tea - Simply Green Tea

After the tasty Indian Classic Spice Tea, I had high hopes for the Simply Green Tea. I just finished it, and while it's not bad, it's nothing special either. It tastes like every other green tea I've had.

Posted by oracle at 11:24 AM | Comments (0)

yogi tea - Classic India Spice

When Mir wrote about Yogi Tea on Want Not about a month ago, I thought it sounded interesting so I requested some free samples. I got them in the mail on Saturday, and I actually remembered to bring the two decaf ones in to work this morning. I tried the Classic India Spice Tea first. It smells like it should be sweet, but it's not. The other spices balance out the cinnamon taste nicely. Next up, the Simply Green Tea.

Posted by oracle at 8:51 AM | Comments (0)

more doughnuts

Someone brought in doughnuts again, but I succumbed to a glazed chocolate one this time. Tasty!

Posted by oracle at 7:53 AM | Comments (0)

morning already?

What a slow morning. Mike and I didn't get to bed until late last night (thank you, loud neighbors) which made it hard to get out of bed this morning. I don't even remember hearing the alarm go off the first time. I've got laundry to put away and dishes to load in the dishwasher, but I'm seriously considering crawling back in bed.

Posted by oracle at 4:16 AM | Comments (0)

August 28, 2006

as it turns out

My MyFi was in my purse all along. I didn't realize this until after I got home this afternoon, but it wouldn't have made a difference anyways since the battery was dead. I need to get a charger for it to keep at work too so I can listen to it during the day and still have juice for the ride home.

Posted by oracle at 5:12 PM | Comments (0)

popsicle

The building I work in has excellent AC so I keep a sweatshirt at my desk for when it gets too cold. I took it home over the weekend to wash, and it's nice and clean now. Too bad I forgot to bring it back in with me. Brrrr.

Posted by oracle at 8:12 AM | Comments (0)

blast

My MyFi is still sitting on the desk in our room where I forgot it this morning, which meant that my ride in was much quieter than usual. I'm not looking forward to the ride home.

Posted by oracle at 6:24 AM | Comments (0)

another perfect weekend

The title pretty much says it all. It was a great weekend. We left the house twice - once to run to Best Buy Friday night for some computer stuff and then again on Saturday to get haircuts. While we were at Best Buy we picked up American Psycho, Van Wilder, Will Ferrell's second SNL dvd, and the second season of Will & Grace. We watched Land of the Dead and more of the first season of Will & Grace before going to bed. Saturday was spent watching the Godfather trilogy, with a couple of Will & Grace episodes in between to give me a break from the bleak stuff, and after the last Godfather movie, we ended the night with more Will & Grace. Sunday was a mix of working and watching more tv shows. While Mike did some work for his clients, I did some laundry and worked on some other house-related things, and in between, we watched some of the first season of Deadwood and some of the second season of Will & Grace. The only reason I put clothes on at all on Sunday was to take the puppies out, and even then I had to borrow Mikes shirt once and his shorts another time. There was lots of laughing and being goofy, ham sandwiches, pudding, drinks, snuggling, tickling, talking, and consideration. There was no fast food/restaurants, scaring, fighting, puppy accidents, drama, migraines, or waking up early.

Posted by oracle at 4:54 AM | Comments (0)

August 27, 2006

the mystery of the missing Nancy Drews

Except it's not really a mystery, and they're not really missing. I just never owned them. I've been re-reading all my Nancy Drew books, and in the process I discovered that I don't have two of them: #24 - The Clue In The Old Album, and #29 - The Mystery At The Ski Jump.

Posted by oracle at 10:57 AM | Comments (0)

the Godfather, finally

Mike and I watched the Godfather trilogy yesterday, and I really enjoyed the movies. There were plenty of parts I covered my eyes for, but what else is new?

Posted by oracle at 9:44 AM | Comments (0)

August 25, 2006

taquito success

I made taquitos last night, and they turned out great. The ones I made earlier in the week weren't bad, but they weren't as good as the ones last night. I fried the tortillas longer and wrapped them a little tighter which made quite a difference in the finished product.

Posted by oracle at 7:58 AM | Comments (0)

dog breath

I'm getting tired of waking up before the alarm clock goes off. Today I woke up to the sound of a dog horking. It was Max, and since she was the one right beside me, I was able to grab her before she threw up on the bed, but that doesn't change the fact that dog barf is not something I want to wake up to.

Posted by oracle at 4:41 AM | Comments (0)

August 24, 2006

the front passenger seat smells like cherries

The good: someone brought in doughnuts this morning, but I managed to make it through the day without inhaling any.
The bad: I left one of my favorite lip gloss pots in my car and didn't discover it until after work. It all melted and leaked out onto the passenger seat though, so now I need to get another one. Dammit.

Posted by oracle at 5:49 PM | Comments (0)

butterfingers

I just dropped the same eye shadow twice in less than 10 seconds. This does not bode well for the rest of the day. And I wasn't even trying to get the eyeshadow out of my makeup bag - I just wanted my clippers so I could get rid of a hangnail.

Posted by oracle at 7:49 AM | Comments (0)

not quite what I had in mind

I woke up before the alarm went off this morning with one of the worst migraines I've had in a long time. My medicine didn't kick in quickly like it usually does, and every time Mike got up, I mentally crossed my fingers and hoped that he was getting up to hit the snooze button because I just was not ready to get out of bed yet. During one of the snoozes he rubbed my head which made the pain go away...until he stopped rubbing, at which point the headache crept back. It was a little less painful after that, but since I was still pretty miserable, Mike told me to take it easy and that he'd take care of packing lunch, etc. He rubbed my head again before he left, which helped even more that time, and then I curled up with the puppies and tried to go to back to sleep while praying for my medicine to finally start working. It must have kicked in at some point, because when the alarm clock went off at 5:45, I felt great. I'm hoping things stay that way.

Posted by oracle at 7:28 AM | Comments (0)

August 19, 2006

John Mayer

I have a crush on John Mayer after listening to him on Ron and Fez's show yesterday. I'm still not a huge fan of his music, but he seems pretty interesting.

Posted by oracle at 7:27 PM | Comments (0)

August 18, 2006

now with more garlic

N and I did a lot of cooking last night. He helped me chop lots of onions (I think his favorite part of the whole thing might have been using my Pampered Chef cutter), press several cloves of garlic, and brown and drain 12 pounds of ground turkey. I love cooking, but it's definitely nice to have some company and help while I'm doing it. He went to play DOA 4 after we were done with the ground turkey, and Z came into the kitchen asking if I'd ever made homemade pizza. He's of the opinion that mine would be pretty good, especially if I use the red sauce that I've been making lately. My new mission is to find a good pizza dough recipe so I can give it a try and see if my pizza lives up to expectations. He also asked if I had any sites and commented that I should put my recipes online, so if you see a recipe link on the sidebar sometime soon, thank him.

Posted by oracle at 9:36 AM | Comments (0)

ha HA

Sure enough, I didn't even think about charging my iPod last night, but I did grab the adapter and charger on my way out this morning. I even remember to bring a spoon for my yogurt and/or pudding. This must mean I've forgotten something else, which is an uncomfortable feeling. I do remember that I have a doctor's appointment today, so at least my sinuses will be covered.

Posted by oracle at 6:46 AM | Comments (0)

August 17, 2006

curses

How many times do I have to tell myself never leave home without a spoon before it'll sink in? And if I can't remember to keep my iPod charged, I'll have to start taking the cord and adapter with me every-freaking-where, because when I need my iPod at work, I don't want to see the battery indicator in the red.

Posted by oracle at 1:45 PM | Comments (0)

August 14, 2006

where's my paper?

We didn't get a paper yesterday or this morning, so I called a few minutes ago to see what was going on. Apparently one of our neighbors called in and requested that they stop delivering our paper because there were six piled up on the porch and they (the neighbors) were worried that we might be on vacation or something. I'm irritated by this for a couple of reasons. 1) There were not, and never have been, six papers on our porch. Even when we were at Ozzfest last weekend my brother brought the papers in for us, so no pile-up there. At most there have been two papers at one time outside, but that's happened maybe twice since we've been living there. 2) Why wouldn't someone from the paper call to check on the status before stopping the paper? Wouldn't that be a good idea so they don't stop a paper unnecessarily? 3) Even if they didn't call before stopping the paper, it would've been nice to have a call after so we'd know what the hell was going on. 4) Why, exactly, would my neighbors call about a paper that hasn't been piling up? I could understand if we'd been letting the papers collect for days, but since that wasn't the case, I'm more than a little mystified by the phone call and the six-paper claim.

Posted by oracle at 8:11 AM | Comments (0)

brown recluse

What a nice, lazy weekend. There was lots of sleeping and snuggling, cigars and champagne, a new axle for my car, pool with friends Saturday night, and F-Troop, the Aristocrats, pizza, and nacho dip with friends on Sunday.

In other news, my BLS shirt is still my current favorite a) because of the band, b) because it fits perfectly, and c) because it's so damn comfortable.

Posted by oracle at 6:30 AM | Comments (0)

August 11, 2006

Bo cook pie!

You can't kill Bo. You can only make him mad.

Also, Miss Doxie is a genius.

Posted by oracle at 6:47 PM | Comments (0)

August 10, 2006

movies galore

Mike and I went to see Talladega Nights last Saturday with my other mother and one of my other brothers, and I really enjoyed the movie, especially the part with the cougar. Hee.

We'd picked up a bunch of dvds while we were killing time before the movie, and we've spent a good part of the past week watching them. Monday we watched The Wedding Crashers, Elf, and Anchorman, and Tuesday was Mallrats.

The Wedding Crashers was good, although different from what I expected. The wedding crashing montage early on is what I thought the bulk of the movie was going to be about, so that was a bit surprising, but Vince Vaughn's character is really what made the whole movie for me. Also, this is the first movie I've ever liked Christopher Walkin in.

Elf and Anchorman were both good, and I'm turning into quite a Will Ferrell fan. Who knew?

Mallrats was much, much funnier than I expected it to be, and now I'm looking forward to seeing more of Kevin Smith's movies.

Posted by oracle at 1:02 PM | Comments (0)

velvet aftershave

I love it when Mike shaves in the mornings. I love kissing him goodbye and smelling the shave gel/aftershave combination on his skin, I love the way I can still smell a trace of those scents after he's left, and I really love the way his freshly-shaved skin feels - all soft and velvety to my fingertips.

Posted by oracle at 4:27 AM | Comments (0)

August 8, 2006

Ozzfest 2006 - the recap

What a great time. We got there around 10:45 - 11ish and the first thing we did was pick up some shirts. That was good because there was no line whatsoever and we had our choice of shirts/sizes, but it also sucked because we had to carry the shirts around all day. After that we went and browsed around to see what there was. The only ones I can remember right now are the Brother's Grimm sideshow, a Monster truck, the second stage, several concession stands, lots of vendors, an FYE booth (which would later become one of Mike's favorite parts of Ozzfest), a booth from one of the local radio stations, but there were others I'm forgetting, I'm sure.

Once we'd seen what there was, we went to one of the concession stands to get some food for Mike, and he was thrilled to discover that they were also selling Sam Adams summer ale. We sat in the shade for a little bit then went back to the see the sideshow. The wait to get in was longer than I'd have liked, but I'd never seen one of those before, and it was well worth the wait. There was a fire eater, a sword swallower, and a burlesque show, among other things. (The burlesque show? Awesome. It was right up there with the sword swallowing as one of the highlights of the day.) Some friends of ours were going to Ozzfest as well, and earlier we'd commented that there was no way we'd see them there because of all the people, but as it turned out, we ran into them in the sideshow tent. At a couple points during the show I started to feel sick, so I spent a third of it crouched down with my head down so I didn't throw up or faint. I'd thought the heat was oppressive outside while we were standing in line, but when we got back outside after the show, it felt great. We grabbed something to drink and went to sit in the shade again until I started to feel better.

I started feeling better after a chicken sandwich, some Gatorade, and lots of water, so we began making our way to the second stage for Black Label Society's show (as we were passing through the fence we ran into our friends again (that'll teach me not to say that we won't find someone because of the crowd!). I'd never seen them play before and I was pretty impressed with the show. Zakk Wylde has great stage presence, and I knew all of the songs they played (my favorite, of course, was "Fire It Up"). At one point during their show, Mike put me up on his shoulders so I could get pictures from above people's heads. While we were watching the show, people passed us with various injuries - one guy had blood smeared all across his torso, although he didn't appear to be bleeding himself, and another guy passed by with an awful-looking black eye that covered most of one side of his face. Ozzy was playing right after BLS, but we decided to go back the shade and sit, and as we were making our way out of the fenced-in-area that housed the second stage, we passed a long line at the FYE booth. A look at the sign in front of the booth showed that the line was people waiting to get stuff signed from one of the bands, and after a closer look, we realized that BLS had pre-signed posters, so Mike pre-ordered their new cd and got a signed poster as well. This and seeing BLS play were probably the two highlights of the day for him.

We sat in the grass for a little bit, chilling, listening to Ozzy's set, and watching the people mill around, and then we decided that we really didn't want to wait the four hours until Disturbed started playing, so, after another stop by the apparel stands, we left to go to the hotel.

On the way to the hotel, we decided to stop and get something to eat before checking in, so we went to Uno's. I haven't had pizza from Uno's since I started my new job, so I wanted to get that, but my extra-cheese, extra-sauce, and olive pizza came out with a shitload of onions as well. I like cooking with onions, but since I'm still not to the point where I like them on my burgers or pizzas, etc., I sent it back. The waiter was extremely apologetic and had the manager come apologize to me as well, and when the replacement pizza came out, it was just as I had requested, although it didn't taste as good as I remember it tasting before. We talked briefly about going to the movies, but ended up going back to the hotel to shower instead, with the plan of going back out later if we felt like it.

Mike and I hopped in the shower as soon as we got to the hotel and then settled down to chill. We watched the last part of Dodgeball (which is why I am currently in love with Vince Vaughn), and spent the rest of the night relaxing. I'd been spraying sunscreen liberally all day, so the only pink spots on me were my forehead and my chest from where I'd changed into a tank top midway through the day, but Mike's face was bright pink with white spots where his sunglasses had been.

Mike woke up early the next morning wanting eggs, so we went to Denny's while it was pouring rain. When he'd had his eggs, pancakes, and sausage and I'd had my French toast, eggs, and bacon (mmm), we went back to the hotel and crashed, again. The next time we woke up, we were ready to check out, so we packed everything up and started the drive home.

Posted by oracle at 6:21 AM | Comments (0)

August 3, 2006

perfection on the couch

Tonight was perfect. We skipped the gym and did our own thing in the house for a while before settling down to watch Columbo, and I wish I'd thought to take a picture, because Mike looked awesome (hair - perfectly spiky, yet non-gelled looking; eyes - melty; face - perfectly shadow-scruffed, but not scratchy; outfit - darkish jeans + white tshirt = hothothot). These are the moments where, as he puts it, I want to wrap him up and keep him at home, all to myself. There was lots of laughing, drinking, cuddling and snuggling, and I wish that I could etch every single moment in my memory so it never fades. It's nice to remember that it was a good evening, but I want more - I want to be able to remember WHY it was so great. I can't put into words how good it feels to have such a wonderful evening with such a wonderful person and knowing that we have the rest of our lives to have more evenings like this one. Moosh.

Posted by oracle at 9:32 PM | Comments (1)

July 31, 2006

Roar

Holy shit, Roar is being released on DVD in September. I've only been waiting for this for 9 years.

Posted by oracle at 9:58 AM | Comments (0)

July 28, 2006

melty

H: "I like to keep you in my heart."

Posted by oracle at 4:16 PM | Comments (0)

a small snuggly

We started letting the puppies sleep in bed again, and so far, there haven't been any accidents. They do take up more space than I remembered though, and Max is a pillow hog. She starts out somewhere near my feet, migrates up to my stomach/side, then eventually slithers up until her top half is on the pillow (the rest of her is still tucked underneath the covers). Sometimes she'll deviate from this and completely curl up on the pillow, and while she may be a miniature doxie, there isn't an awful lot of pillow space left over when she does this.

Posted by oracle at 10:53 AM | Comments (0)

gold digger

Gold Digger? I Come From a Land Down Under? What the hell is up with my mental songlist today?

Posted by oracle at 9:35 AM | Comments (0)

July 27, 2006

the old world seduction

All the progress I've made and I still regress to where I used to be,
looking down at the blue under pale white
broken habits return, derailing the ways I know this is supposed to be handled
drawing me back to the lie that pain makes it better -
that slow red is better than an ache in my chest
that three fingers are better than this feeling in my stomach -
luring me back to the broken road I was on before
nails ache to scrabble for purchase
longing to sink into the familiar
to embrace the well-known path
one lone promise closes that world off from me
that promise the wall between who I am now and who I was
just a few short months ago

Posted by oracle at 8:10 PM | Comments (0)

July 26, 2006

bear paws

The pictures in this entry are adorable, and Miss Doxie's captions are hilarious. I'm alternately snorting and wanting to run out and get more doxie puppies.

Posted by oracle at 1:27 PM | Comments (0)

another sticker

This morning's sticker is another butterfly on a blue background, this time with a blue body and pink wings with magenta-ish spots.

Posted by oracle at 6:54 AM | Comments (0)

July 25, 2006

stickers

I usually drop H off at daycare on my way in to work when we have the kids during the week, and lately she's been getting a sticker out of the basket they keep up front and putting it on my hand as I'm signing her in. Today's sticker is a butterfly with a purple body, green wings, and white stars on its wings.

Posted by oracle at 8:34 AM | Comments (0)

sinusy fun

Mine are kicking my ass. After the way I felt all week, I fully expected to be laid out over the weekend. Instead of being debilitated though, I was miserable - the kind of miserable where you don't feel bad enough to justify staying in bed all day but you're grouchy and achy and don't really want to do much of anything. I wanted to just crawl in bed and sleep until I felt better, but there wasn't time last weekend. The one coming up is looking like it'll be a busy one too, so my day of sleep will just have to wait.

Posted by oracle at 7:01 AM | Comments (0)

July 21, 2006

frog paranoia

After our recent frog encounters, Mike and I are both being cautious when we open the front door. I'm sure I look ridiculous peeking at the sides of the door and inspecting the handle before opening it fully, but if it keeps that teensy frog out of the house, then so be it.

Posted by oracle at 7:03 AM | Comments (0)

July 20, 2006

no longer bare

I have my rings back! My hand feels normal again. No more glancing down at a ringless finger wondering why it looks and feels odd or worrying that I've lost them. No more adjusting them constantly because they've turned around on my finger. And no more jangling as they clank together when I move my hands.

Posted by oracle at 9:45 AM | Comments (0)

Ozzfest prep

Squizz was playing some BLS this morning when I got back in the car after dropping H off at daycare. I can't wait till August 6th!

Posted by oracle at 6:50 AM | Comments (0)

frog legs - revisited

The frog jumped in at Mike this morning. His response involved a similar amount of arm shaking with a lot less squeaking and more "What the FUCK?!?". The frog was flung to parts unknown in the commotion, but I noticed it on the glass by the door when I went back downstairs, so I scooped it up (in the cup that was still by the front door from its visit earlier this week) and deposited it outside. I'm not sure what kind of frog this is, but it sure is wet. It leaves puddles of what looks like water on the floor in its wake. Hopefully it'll stay outside tomorrow.

Posted by oracle at 4:50 AM | Comments (2)

July 19, 2006

toaster strudel

The break room smells like toaster struedel, and now I want some even though I know my stomach always feels a bit queasy after I eat one.

Posted by oracle at 9:21 AM | Comments (0)

perpetual puddle

One of my least favorite things about this time of year is the sweat. I don't mind a little sweat, but the constant dripping is repulsive. Unfortunately, my car is a little sweat-box on wheels, so my ride home is always miserable. My current summer routine involves changing into a tank top and putting on sunscreen before I leave work so I don't drown. Even then I'm very uncomfortable, and more than a little grouchy, by the time I make it home. It's not so bad at 70 with the windows down, but it's awful when I hit stop-and-go traffic.

The other downside to this is when we take the bike out, the helmet and jacket get very hot, very fast. I'm not comfortable with the idea of going out jacketless though, so I've resigned myself to showing up everywhere dripping, unless we take the truck. Yesterday, we were walking in to meet some friends for dinner when a guy stopped us in the parking lot and commended us (I'm assuming it was us, although he seemed to be directing the comment to Mike) on wearing protective gear, even in the heat. Heh. If only he'd heard Mike 15 minutes earlier, lamenting the fact that shitty traffic made it necessary for him to wear the jacket, because he really didn't want to.

Posted by oracle at 8:37 AM | Comments (0)

July 18, 2006

frog legs

When I opened the door to walk Mike out to the truck a few minutes ago, something wet hit my arm, so I squeaked and shook my arm until something that I thought was a moth landed on the floor. Mike pointed out that it looked like a frog, but I didn't think anything of it until I came back in and took a closer look, and he was right; it was a teeny tiny, almost translucent frog. Ick.

Posted by oracle at 4:31 AM | Comments (0)

July 17, 2006

Perry Mason

I heart this show. I read a lot of the books when I was younger, but the only Perry Mason episodes I remember watching were the made-for-tv-movies that came out in the late 80's, early 90's. We picked the first season up last week, and after watching six episodes, it's tied with Columbo on my favorite tv show list.

Posted by oracle at 8:20 PM | Comments (0)

Villainess - Bathory

This stuff is just as awesome as Gloop. Thankfully it's not a limited edition/retired scent so I can buy more when my sample is used up. Now I just have to see how it smells under my mainstay perfume.

Posted by oracle at 6:16 PM | Comments (0)

bpal - Bordello (Love Potions)

It initially smells very fruity on me, like some kind of lollipop or candy that I can't place yet. It's a little overwhelming, so I'm hoping that part fades pretty quickly.

Posted by oracle at 6:03 PM | Comments (0)

bpal - Dana O'Shee (Bewitching Brews)

This one smelled great in the vial and for the first minute or so after I put it on, then it started smelling a little too sweet.

Posted by oracle at 5:49 PM | Comments (0)

July 16, 2006

PSA #3

If you take a glass baking pan out of oven, it will not be cool 10 minutes later when you try to pick it up with your bare hands. If dropping said pan immediately is not an option (say, for instance, it's right over the cast iron burners on your gas range), put it down as quickly as possible to minimize the blistering. Then get your bottle of aloe, apply liberally, and whine to everyone in earshot.

Posted by oracle at 9:23 AM | Comments (1)

July 14, 2006

bpal - Lick It 05

I tried this one this morning before I went to the gym. I like the way it smells in the vial, kind of minty and fresh, and it smelled just as good when I first put it on. After wearing it for a bit, it started to smell more strongly of vanilla, which was a little disappointing. I was hoping the minty scent would stay noticeable as it wore on.

Note: I'll have to give this one another try sometime soon because I forgot that I was wearing it and used some of B&B Juniper Breeze right after my work out.

Posted by oracle at 11:39 AM | Comments (3)

it's the little things

highlights of yesterday:

Z showing me his comics, asking what I thought about them, and sitting outside on the deck with me while I was giving the puppies their ice cubes.

N sitting outside with me, first when I was taking the puppies outside, and then again later on the deck after Z had gone inside

Mike sharing his day with me, telling me I was awesome, the hugs, cuddles, and backrubs, and his concern about my fever when we went to bed. It's nice to be fussed over sometimes.

Posted by oracle at 7:48 AM | Comments (0)

July 12, 2006

caffeine levels

I read an article on WebMD that mentioned a group of researchers who say caffeine levels should be included on the nutrition labels of energy drinks. I'd like to see this taken a step further and have caffeine levels included on the nutrition labels of everything that contains a significant amount of it, that way people who are sensitive to it can factor that info in to their food/drink decisions.

Posted by oracle at 7:14 AM | Comments (0)

July 11, 2006

villainess - Gloop

Karinne also included some Villainess soaps in Monday's goody bag, and the first one I've tried is Gloop. Fucking awesome. Per Karinne, it was a limited edition, described as fluffed marshmallow fudge, and it smells just like the description. When I used it this morning, it smelled so chocolatey that I was worried I'd made some sort of mistake and had to double-check the wrapper to make sure it was indeed soap. According to the Villainess forum, they'll be making more of this in the fall, and I'll definitely be picking some up.

Posted by oracle at 12:16 PM | Comments (0)

bpal - Jack (Bewitching Brews)

Karinne enabled me with box full of bpal imps Monday, and this is the first one I've tried. It started off smelling deliciously like a pumpkin pie candle I have, but after about 15 minutes, it started smelling really heavy and more fruity than pumpkiny.

10:21 AM - Now it seems to smell a bit Windexy.

12:16 PM - No more Windex; iIt's currently got a vanillay scent with a touch of the pumpkin from earlier.

1:10 PM - Still vanillay, but a bit more pumpkiny than the last update

9:24 PM - overall verdict: I really like the end result (light vanilla/pumpkin), but I'm not sure I want to deal with all the in-between phases to get there. I'll have to try it again another day and see how that goes.

Posted by oracle at 4:33 AM | Comments (3)

July 10, 2006

nausea and gnashings

I'm tired. The weekend feels like it didn't exist at all, and I had to fight hard against the sweet thought of crawling back in bed this morning. It didn't help that the puppykins were curled up on it (Maddy on top of the comforter, looking like a little marsupial; Max underneath the covers, burrowed like a little prairie dog) looking cute, comfy, and extremely snuggleable. If Mike had stayed home, I'm sure I would've succumbed. The drive in to work helped a bit, but now that I'm at my desk I feel queasy again and still very dizzy/disoriented. I want a nap.

Posted by oracle at 6:38 AM | Comments (0)

mystery bruise

I noticed a dark smear across my eyelid when I was washing my face this morning, and, thinking it was mascara, I grabbed a q-tip to wipe it off. Turns out it's a bruise, and I can't figure out what the hell I did. I'm paranoid now, checking it periodically and comparing both eyes to see if there's any swelling. How do you get a bruise across your eyelid and not know how it happened?

Posted by oracle at 6:04 AM | Comments (0)

July 9, 2006

pins and needles

I need to buy some basic sewing things (thread, straight pins, and the like), but two of the major craft stores in town only have embroidery/cross-stitch thread. Target has a limited selection of this stuff, so if Jo-Ann's doesn't have anything, my only other option is going to be Wal-Mart. Bah. All I'm trying to do is hem some pants, y'all. It's not like I'm making a dress or anything.

Posted by oracle at 7:25 PM | Comments (0)

my bare hands

Sure enough, I keep realizing I'm not wearing my rings and trying frantically to remember where I left them, if they could have fallen off, etc., only to remember a couple seconds later that they're being sized. I can't wait to get them back so I can stop my little panic bits.

Posted by oracle at 6:53 PM | Comments (0)

July 8, 2006

cargo gold

I've finally found some good cargo pants! My sister called yesterday to let me know that she'd seen some that looked like what I was looking for, so I stopped by the store while I was out doing errands, and they were very close to what I had in mind. The best part? They were on sale. I got almost perfect cargo pants for $15. Now to hem them...

Posted by oracle at 11:53 PM | Comments (0)

plus a car, minus some jewelry

I had to run out and do some errands today, and since one of them took me close to the jewelry store where Mike bought my engagement ring and wedding band, I decided I might as well stop in and drop them off to be sized. They both are big enough on me that they've been known to slide off my hand (this is particularly alarming when I'm throwing trash into the can for pick up) and have been making a clinking sound every time I move my hand. I love wearing them and was hesitant to drop them off because I don't want to be without them for several days, so I'd just been putting up with it for a while, but after a couple close calls this past week, it was time to take them in. I won't be getting them back for just over a week, and my hand feels naked without them. It'll be nice not to worry about having to jump in a trash can after them though.

On the plus side, I got my car back today. After a couple of days of driving the van, it's nice to have the batmobile back.

Posted by oracle at 11:28 PM | Comments (0)

July 7, 2006

etiquette

Jen posted a link to the following blog etiquette entry, and I think it's pretty appropriate, given current circumstances:

"If you do not have a friendly interest in my life, I would ask what the hell you're doing here. No one is forcing you to read this. Showing up to read someone's journal solely to find reasons to dislike them is, at the very least, bizarre. Such behaviour skirts dangerously close to trolling. No one likes trolls."

Posted by oracle at 5:07 PM | Comments (0)

Kelly Clarkson, wooo!

We heard that countless times last night, which shouldn't be too surprising since we were at a Kelly Clarkson concert. Mike got a ticket to it from a friend who'd gotten it free and didn't want it, so I bought a ticket too, and off we went. If I were going to make a list of shows I wanted to go to, Kelly Clarkson probably wouldn't be in the top 10, or even 20, but we had a blast. The rain had stopped about halfway through the day and had cooled things off to the point where I was actually shivering for most of the concert, and the ground hadn't dried completely yet, so it was a good thing we'd brought a couple of blankets. Rooney opened for her, and while they weren't bad, they weren't anything to write home about either. About half an hour after Rooney finished their set, Kelly took the stage and put on a surprisingly good show. She's a go